Luxembourg
by NEZUMIso-soup
Summary: My first fic, revolving mainly around my OC Luxembourg and the German-speaking countries. It all starts with some Friday-night drinking...
1. Friday Night

On Fridays it was customary for Luxembourg to go out drinking with his friends. The ones he saw regularly were his 'Benelux-buddies', as Prussia called them, Belgium and Netherlands, as well as Prussia himself, who usually came with Germany (because Germany had a car). Germany sometimes brought along Veneziano, and, though not often, sometimes Japan. Japan hadn't been by in a long time.  
>Occasionally, some of the Nordics would come by, most notably Denmark, if he 'was in the area' (or just wanted to drink).<br>Austria would come for an hour or two, but without ever missing it. Hungary tended to follow him, to make sure him and Prussia 'played nice', with the help of her trusty frying pan. Switzerland and Lichtenstein rarely showed up, but Luxembourg would still see them every now and then, they often invited him over for dinner, to get the two young men away from the offices.  
>France preferred wine over beer, and would only come if Spain went, who only went if Romano went, who only went to try and convince Veneziano to stay away from Germany (or vice versa). Needless to say, Romano failed, so he ended up coming a few times every year.<p>

Every Friday evening began the same way. Luxembourg would arrive last to the bar they always met in, usually very late because of work, and greet them in a cheery tone. He'd get himself a beer and settle down. The nations would be sharing stories about what had happened during the week (though they tended to avoid politics and economy as much as possible). The only ones not drinking beer would be Netherlands, who'd be perfectly content to just smoke whatever shady stuff of questionable legality he happened to have with him, France, when he came, would drink wine. Spain and Romano opted for tomato juice, wine or beer, depending on the mood and who'd be driving. Veneziano actually tended to take beer, probably to make Germany happy.

This Friday, there were only Benelux and some of the German-speakers, Germany, Austria and Prussia. Only six. Prussia and Austria were having a heated argument, but they stopped when Luxembourg came within sight. Them arguing was rather common, so Luxembourg simply ignored it.

"Hello," he said, with an apologetic smile. Prussia grinned at him.

"Late as ever," the white-haired, red-eyed man noted. Austria looked amused.

"What kept you this time?"

"Only a traffic jam, unfortunately." Luxembourg sighed. "It's annoying, when I for once actually end work on time, I just _have_ to get stuck in a traffic jam."

Belgium rolled her eyes, but smiled. "Nothing will ever keep Lux from being late on a Friday evening!"

Even Netherlands smiled at that, and Luxembourg felt his face grow warm. "I'm sorry…"

Germany shook his head. "No need to apologize, it's not like you can do anything about it. We were all late tonight."

"D'awww, look, West – isn't it cute how easily Lux goes red when he's embarrassed?"

"I'm not red!" Luxembourg protested, but he felt his face grow even warmer.

Belgium giggled.

"Yes you are, Lux! But don't worry, it's not like you can do anything about it!" She threw her arm around her 'little brother's' shoulders, and together with Prussia, who also decided to invade Luxembourg's personal bubble, she started to tease him about all kinds of related and unrelated things. Luxembourg started to regret sitting down between them instead of sitting between Austria and Germany, both of whom possessed better manners.  
>Germany made some half-hearted attempts to make his <em>Bruder <em>stop, and when that failed, Luxembourg looked to Netherlands. But there was no help to be received from him; he had already gotten that absent look that Luxembourg had learned to hate early on, so he looked to Austria instead. But before Austria had the chance to do anything, the beer in Prussia's pint had vanished.

"Hey!" Prussia's grip tightened around Luxembourg's noticeably thinner frame, and the white-haired's face got uncomfortably close to the smaller nation's own. The red eyes glittered mischievously. "How about a drinking contest?"

"Are you sure about that?" Austria countered, clearly not in favour of this turn of events. "I mean, when have you ever won against Luxembourg? Sometime before he gained his independence, perhaps?"

"_Klappe!_" Prussia shouted, turning to face Austria, and in doing so, pulled Luxembourg along with him and out of Belgium's grip. Though this didn't upset her too much.

"Yay, a drinking contest!"

Austria frowned. "Now, really…"

"Oh, come on," Germany interrupted, "Where's the harm in that? As you already pointed out, Luxembourg hasn't lost yet, and maybe _Bruder_ can (finally) learn something from it."

"I seriously doubt that," Austria snorted, but then shrugged. "_Meinetwegen_, do as you please. I'm no babysitter."

Belgium cheered and ordered up another round while Prussia demanded an explanation for Austria's words, angrily squeezing the air out of Luxembourg who was momentarily forgotten. He started feeling a bit ill, the air had already been a little stuffy, and the whatever-it-was that Netherlands was smoking certainly didn't help.

Despite having been little support so far, Germany made Prussia let go of Luxembourg before he suffocated, and just in time for the pints to arrive, "Luxembourg can't possibly drink if you don't let him sit properly!" Prussia said that you rarely sat properly when drinking, but let Luxembourg sit up nonetheless, and even apologized.

Austria scrutinized Luxembourg's face, asked if he was okay, and although he didn't look entirely convinced, said nothing when Luxembourg lied and said he was fine. He had, after all, always beaten Prussia at drinking.

_Thank you very much for reading this first chapter of my very first fanfiction! Reviews would be greatly appreciated! Luxembourg is my own OC, and I made him before I saw Himaruya's sketches, because I wanted to draw some Benelux. His human name is Gustave Nico Engels, and he's a bit of a workaholic, and he is very good at drinking. ;D Just like Latvia and Finland. Why are the moe-characters so good at drinking..? And Raivis is supposed to be only fifteen..! I hope you look forward to the next chapter!_


	2. Sickness

An hour later, Luxembourg was trying to get rid of the acidic taste left after vomiting. Austria had left with a nearly unconscious and reeking Germany to make sure he got unharmed to his house, and a shower.  
>After continuous spitting (into Prussia's half-empty pint), he gave up and leaned back with a groan. He had a terrible, pulsating headache, and he squeezed his eyes firmly shut to block out the weak light.<p>

"Oi!" Prussia's voice cut through the darkness, almost unbearably sharp. _"Geht's dir gut?"_

As if he'd feel well.

„_Ich fühle mich genau so wie du ausgesehen hat, als ich über dich das letzte mal gewonnen haben," _Luxembourg croaked.  
>Prussia laughed.<p>

Luxembourg gingerly opened his eyes, squinting. Prussia and Netherlands were settling the payment, and then Luxembourg could hear Belgium slurring swear-words at Netherlands. Like always when she was arguing with Netherlands, she slipped back to French, just to spite him. France always found this very amusing.  
>Netherlands kept cool, though, and looked oddly clear, how he managed to stay level-headed after smoking whatever-it-was, Luxembourg could never understand. Netherlands simply picked Belgium up and carried her out. Luxembourg could still hear her swearing even after the door swung shut.<p>

"Well, then," Prussia said, looking down on Luxembourg, who was leaning his head on the table. "I guess I'll be bringing you home tonight."

"How?" The smaller nation snapped, making Prussia flinch. _'_Gott_, he must be feeling really sick…'  
><em>"You don't have a car! All you ever do is bother Germany, even though he's your brother and let's you live in his basement, or you go bother Austria, or France or Spain, or...!"

"We'll just take your car," Prussia interrupted, sensing the rant could get really long.

"Hell no! You're not even touching my car!" Luxembourg shouted, and immediately pressed his hands over his temples, obviously in pain.

Prussia was a little hurt; he had certainly heard similar words before, from Austria or even West (Germany), but never from the mild-mannered, professional Luxembourg.  
>'Mann<em>, he must be really drunk…<em>'  
>"Okay, then," Prussia sighed. "If that's how you want it! Oh –hopp!"<p>

"Hey-hey-hey, _lass los!_"

Gott_, he's so light!_

"No can do!" Prussia laughed, cradling the other nation in his arms. "I told you I could drive, but since you won't let me…"

"Ok, ok, you can drive, just – !"

"It's too late to apologiiiize~!"

"Oh, please, not you too! America is annoying enough as it is, just let me down – !"

_Seriously, should he be this light? I mean, he _is _short and all, but this can't be healthy, right? I wonder if he's taking care of himself alright..?_

"Hey, are you listening?"

"Oh, sorry! Awesome Taxi Preußen is taking off!"

"Taxis don't _take off!_"

"Please fasten your seatbelts – _stop wriggling about!_ – don't smoke and – oh wait – the flight attendant was carried away by Netherlands, and she brought along all the snacks with her, so there are _nichts_. But please don't let that keep you from enjoying a tour with Awesome Taxi Preußen!"

"_Preußen, du Idiot!_"

'_Ah, I recognize this road…'_

Prussia's feet were hurting a bit. He had underestimated the distance, and even though Luxembourg was alarmingly light, Prussia's arms were beginning to sting. The nation in his arms looked so small and vulnerable when he was asleep. There was a warm spot on Prussia's chest where Luxembourg rested his head and breathed lightly.  
><em>'It tickles a bit…,' <em>Prussia thought absent-mindedly as he finally reached Luxembourg's house. Then it hit him. He didn't have any keys. He was reluctant to wake Luxembourg up, he looked like he really needed sleep…  
>But they couldn't stay outside either, human (national?) warm-water bottle as Luxembourg was, it was getting cold. Half-heartedly, Prussia flipped over the doormat with his foot, but to no avail.<br>_'Of course Lux wouldn't hide it somewhere that obvious, knowing him, it's probably nowhere I'd be able to find it.'_

The white-haired man looked down at the brown-haired young man. He then sighed exasperatedly. _'What am I worried about? It's not like I'm doing anything bad…' _But just in case, he checked that no one was round before he searched Luxembourg's pockets.

No keys in the pockets _on_ the jacket…

No keys in the pockets _in_ the jacket…

Luxembourg shifted in his sleep and Prussia only just managed not to drop him headfirst. Holding Luxembourg in an awkward grip with him partially slung over his shoulder, Prussia finally managed to get the keys out of Luxembourg's trouser pockets.

‚_Mein Gott, so viel Mühe für etwas so klein…'_

The hallway was dark. Out of habit, Prussia grabbed after the handle tot he door leading tot he basement, then realized he wasn't at West's and searched for a light switch instead. Dim lights buzzed alight, providing just enough light to navigate to the bedroom.  
>In the bedroom there was a fireplace, the logs were only barely burning, but provided enough light and warmth.<br>Prussia gently put Luxembourg down on the bed, and then slumped back against the warm wall. The red fire that warmed the equally red-eyed ex-nation's back also spread its dancing light over Luxembourg's hair, making it oddly luminous. Luxembourg's face, however, looked ashen.

'_That can't be healthy, right?'_

It was hard to tell in the dimness, and the fire spread weird shadows over the nation's face, but Luxembourg didn't look alright. But how could there be anything seriously wrong? The short man was always smiling.

'_Maybe the alcohol was bad,'_ Prussia thought sleepily. _'Damn, why does he look so angelic when he sleeps?'_


	3. Insolence

When Prussia woke up, he had a cover over him, the fire was out and Luxembourg gone. On a chair lay a towel and a change of clothes that looked too big to fit Luxembourg, so Prussia assumed they were meant for him. He stood up, yawning (without bothering to cover his mouth) and stretched, before he noticed that there was also a note.

Thank you for getting me home yesterday;  
>I apologize for any rude behavior.<br>The towel and change of clothes are for you,  
>the shower is in the room further down the hallway.<br>You can keep the clothes; they are too big for me.  
>Feel free to take whatever you want to eat from the kitchen.<br>If there's anything else you need, I'll be back before long,  
>I just want to get my car back.<p>

Lux

Sluggishly, Prussia re-read the note. _So basically, I can make myself at home?_

* * *

><p>Showered, clad, fed and bored, Prussia sat down with some coffee to await Luxembourg's return. <em>Can it really take this much time to get his car?<em> Suddenly he got nervous. What if Luxembourg had been attacked? It wouldn't be particularly hard to take over such a small country… And since there was unrest in Europe (although it hadn't been obvious at the previous night's drinking), it wasn't completely unrealistic. But in that case, the aggressor would have to deal with all of NATO…  
>Suddenly, startling Prussia out of his trail of thoughts, a key turned in the lock. <em>Weird, I didn't hear any car…<em> He grabbed his coffee and tried to look casual and cool and awesome at the same time as he feared for the worst when he stepped into the hallway.

Luxembourg almost dropped the plastic bags he was carrying in surprise when Prussia suddenly appeared in the hallway.

"_Gott,_ you scared me!" he laughed nervously.

"You had me more scared!" Prussia countered. Luxembourg blinked in surprise, but Prussia didn't notice and continued: "I was worried you got conquered by another nation while you were out - !"

"Wait, what?" Luxembourg laughed._ "Preußen, du bist doof. _If some country randomly decided to attack me they'd have to deal with NATO. I've got allies, Prussia._" _Luxembourg shook his head. "The car got towed. I'll ask Germany to help me get it back tomorrow. I also went to buy some ingredients for dinner, I'm sorry if I made you wait for too long."

"Then, can I stay over one more night? I don't feel like walking all the way back, and I can go back with Germany tomorrow."

Luxembourg hesitated just a bit too long for Prussia's liking, but then nodded.

"Why not? But I have some work to do, so I won't be able to talk to you much."

"Sure, _tiptop_!"

* * *

><p>The rest of the day Prussia spent exploring Luxembourg's house. He couldn't help but compare it to Germany's. Luxembourg's was much smaller, of course, but the emptiness made it seem much bigger than it was. The furniture was simple and functional, but tasteful and of good quality (and probably much more expensive than it looked). Prussia also discovered that the light switches were of the kind that are round buttons that you press to switch on and off, and then turn to increase or decrease the strength of the light. That was why the lights had been so dim the night before. <em>He probably got inspired when he made that pavilion with China. I bet he chose all the furniture himself too.<em> Prussia noticed a table that only could be from IKEA. _I guess Sweden just can't keep out of the furniture business,_ Prussia thought, chuckling to himself.

"_Oi! Wo bist du?"_ Luxembourg's voice called.

"_Hier, ich komme!_"Prussia called back, and headed to where he estimated the voice came from. Entering the kitchen, he found Luxembourg just finishing setting the table.

"I called Germany," he said. "He'll help me get my car back tomorrow. I also asked what you would like to eat, so I hope it'll be okay…" he added sheepishly.

"Yay, _Wurst!_" Prussia laughed as he opened the casserole. "You do know that we eat other things too, me and West?"

"Oh really? When did you last have a _Wurst_-free meal?"

"That was - ! That was… Hey, stop laughing!"

Luxembourg couldn't stop, for some incomprehensible reason he found the whole thing all too funny. That Prussia's face turned about as red as his eyes did nothing to improve the situation.

"Sorry!" Luxembourg managed to say before he started to laugh again.

"I said _don't laugh! _It's just that Germany keeps eating that Italian stuff, and it's so easy to just cook some potatoes and _Wurst_ – DON'T LAUGH!"

Luxembourg had to sit down and double over.

"_Hör auf!_" Prussia protested, but half-heartedly now. He had never seen Luxembourg laugh, _really laugh_. He doubted that anyone else had, either. Maybe Netherlands and Belgium, they lived together for so long. He sat down and hid his face – hot from embarrassment – in his hands. "Was it really that fun..?" he asked, looking through his fingers at Luxembourg, who was trying to calm down and only dared to nod, shaking with withheld laughter, lest he'd keep laughing until he couldn't breathe.

"I guess that's good, then."

When Luxembourg calmed down, they started eating, and Prussia complimented his cooking.

"Although it's not as awesome as _mine_!"

Luxembourg rolled his eyes.

"_Natürlich nicht."_

* * *

><p>In the evening, Prussia was laying on the bed in the guestroom Luxembourg had prepared for him, and was entertaining himself by trying to read a Luxembourgish book. It was surprisingly hard to do, and Prussia had to open a dictionary several times. Needless to say, he found the words and their odd pronunciation more entertaining than learning another language, and he found himself laugh out loud several times.<br>Until he found a word that wasn't in the dictionary. Normally he would just have guessed, German was similar, after all, but nothing seemed to fit. _Maybe I should ask Luxembourg?_ he thought, and sat up. A digital clock illuminated the room with its glowing numbers. It was just past one o' clock. _This late already?_ Prussia was amazed that he had been able to keep his mind on a book for so long. How many hours had it been? Three? Four? _Five?_  
><em>Maybe Lux is asleep already… I shouldn't disturb him,<em> he decided, and tried to sleep.

But the word kept tugging at his attention, and half an hour later he went out into the hallway, in only boxers and a T-shirt. He then recalled Luxembourg's rather strict opinion that unless you were very intimate you should dress properly when meeting someone. Austria, Switzerland and Lichtenstein definitely agreed, although Austria didn't mind fixing and fixing and fixing torn clothes as long as it didn't _look _bad (France wore weird, inappropriate or no clothing all the time, which was probably why the others were so particular about clothing, they must have been mind-scarred for life). Prussia considered going back and putting something on, but then chose not to. _I've known him since before he even became a nation; we've both seen each other in more embarrassing attires._

Prussia reached Luxembourg's door, and – further ignoring proper manners – opened said door without knocking (to his credit, though, he did not yell or do something else that could be considered a disturbance half past one in the morning), and entered.

_Dun dun dunnn~ My mind is full with stupid things. orz Some angst up ahead, hopefully not to cliché or otherwise badly written. :I ALSO! There will be some Italy and Germany. Look forward to that! A big thank you to 'Spiezz' for the first review of my fanfiction, it's reassuring to know that someone is actually reading what I'm writing! _:D _Don't worry, I'm typing it all up as quickly as I can, but I also need to keep up with Fleur-de-Lise and Bring Back the Sun!, because I know I have readers there too. I hope the following chapters won't disappoint you! 3_


	4. Sadness, Smirk or Smile?

"Are you still working?"

A loud thump; a cascade of fluttering papers fell on the floor. Luxembourg had been so startled that he and his chair had toppled over, bringing down an avalanche of papers with him.  
>Prussia's horrified voice came from somewhere Luxembourg assumed must be 'up', but the surprise and the fall, not to mention the pain in the back of his head, had left him so disoriented he couldn't be sure.<br>Prussia helped him sit up, and then stared at Luxembourg's face so intently and with such a serious face that Luxembourg felt uncomfortable. When Prussia finally stopped staring, relief turned into worry as the ex-nation grabbed some of the papers and started skimming through the contents.

"Hey - !" Luxembourg attempted to snatch the papers out of Prussia's hand, but Prussia merely held them out of reach and pushed Luxembourg back down on the floor. Humiliation and indignation flushed Luxembourg's face a brilliant red. Normally Prussia would have laughed and cracked some stupid joke, but now he just looked at Luxembourg. It was so very un-Prussia-like that Luxembourg didn't try to take the papers back, he just sat there, fuming with rage.

"Is it really that bad?" Prussia's voice was barely more than a whisper.

"That's right!" Luxembourg spat, with so much venom it surprised the both of them. Luxembourg couldn't remember if he had ever snapped before, somehow it felt good. "It is that bad! Luckily, my people aren't starving yet, but it's just a question of time before America comes up with some stupid embargo, and England will counter just because he's so _tsundere_! No meetings are going as planned, no good decisions are reached, and I have a fucking _deficit_!"

_Sheiße!_ Why did he have to cry? Luxembourg angrily wiped the tears away with the back of his hand.

Prussia was in shock. It was the first time he heard of this. He might not be a nation anymore, but missing something of this magnitude was just ridiculous.

"B- But, Nato… The EU…" Luxembourg just scoffed.

"We're not getting anything done. We're all just bickering among ourselves." Though this was said in a mocking tone, fear could be perceived underneath, and was obvious in Luxembourg's eyes. "Russia and China are turning out to be exceptionally troublesome…" Luxembourg continued, more softly now. The anger had drained out of him, and he was just scared, and tired. Keeping up appearances everyday was exhausting. "Russia has plans on expanding into Europe, probably through Finland or Poland. And the scary thing is, he could do it. Especially if China decides to back him up and we don't get our act together." Luxembourg wrapped his arms around his knees. His eyes were pleading.  
>"I don't want to be occupied again!" The tiny nation looked even smaller now, having hid his face behind his knees. The pitiful sight tugged at Prussia's heart, and he wanted nothing more than to help.<p>

But he wasn't a nation anymore. There was nothing he could do.

"I'm sure Germany would help -"

"He occupied me already. _Twice!_"

Prussia bit his lip. That was true. Luxembourg really was at a geographical disadvantage, between two big nations. Belgium wasn't insignificant either, though it was more likely she'd come to Luxembourg's aid.  
>Prussia too had been trying to take over Luxembourg, but had gotten into a dispute over him with France. The only thing that had stopped it from developing into a full-blown war had been England, and his Treaty of London, guaranteeing Luxembourg's independence and neutrality. Germany had put an end to the latter when occupying Luxembourg, pushing the young nation to join Nato to avoid further occupations.<p>

_Switzerland was so proud of Lux… Me too… It's not easy being a nation. Nor is it easy being an ex-nation…_ Prussia really wanted to help. He didn't want Luxembourg to feel the shame of unbecoming a nation. It was excruciating, although living like a normal human being wasn't bad, and it felt like a huge weight he hadn't known he was carrying was lifted off his shoulders when all responsibilities of a nation were handed over to Germany and Poland.  
>But the hole… There was a huge, empty space within him. He'd been trying to fill the empty space with something, but he hadn't found anything that would make it go away. He had even left Germany's basement for a full year to travel, trying to find something, only to discover that he felt better being in a familiar place with the same old friends, acting the same old way. The others had been nice to him, acting as if nothing had changed. He didn't feel the hole 247 anymore, it never disappeared, but it was bearable.

* * *

><p>Luxembourg couldn't bear looking at Prussia. Tears burned at the corners of his eyes. He didn't want Prussia – or anyone else – to see him like this. He had to appear strong in front of the others. Had to. He didn't want to cry, he wanted Prussia to go away, he…<br>None of these wishes were granted, instead, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He flinched, but was too tired to pull away. Prussia pulled the tiny nation into a tight embrace. It was comforting and warm, and Luxembourg couldn't hold his tears back anymore. Prussia awkwardly patted Luxembourg's head.  
>It made Luxembourg terribly self-conscious; they were both in a state of undress that he wasn't comfortable with (never minding the sheer <em>hideousness <em>of Prussia's T-shirt with a big print of a chicken); Luxembourg himself was only wearing an over-sized, old shirt.  
>Not knowing what embarrassed him most – his clothing or his tears – he pushed himself away from Prussia, and after a deep breath he felt sufficiently calm for speaking.<p>

"Sorry," he said, and was pleased that his voice sounded much more stable than he'd expected. Prussia looked like he was going to say something, so Luxembourg quickly added: "What did you come for, anyway?"

"Oh right!" You could almost see a light bulb over Prussia's head. "I was going to ask what this word meant…"

Luxembourg took the book that was being handed to him. _Why was he reading a Luxembourgish book..?_ he wondered.  
>Upon seeing the word, he chuckled.<p>

"Why didn't you use a dictionary?"

"I did! But I couldn't find it."

Luxembourg nodded to himself.

"Well, it _is_ slang."

"For what?"

An expression Prussia hadn't even thought Luxembourg was capable of making crept upon the nation's tear-streaked face. Luxembourg was _smirking_! _Where's that camera when I need it?_

"It means…" Luxembourg crept closer again and sat up on his knees to reach Prussia's ear before whispering the answer. Prussia's face grew even redder than earlier that morning, if that was possible.

_Verdammt!_

* * *

><p>It was Sunday morning. Although Luxembourg would have liked to stay asleep longer and just rest the whole day, he had to be ready to leave when Germany came so that he could finally get his car back. He also had to prepare breakfast, and not only for himself, but for Prussia too.<p>

_Preußen…_

Luxembourg quickly stuffed the weekend's bad memories into some far-away corner of his mind._ I'll just focus on breakfast._  
>Not really knowing what Prussia might like for breakfast, Luxembourg decided to simply make pancakes. He didn't know anyone who disliked pancakes, and it was a simple recipe. Fastening an apron with a lopsided ribbon, Luxembourg set to work.<br>Just as he was going to pour some of the batch into the frying pan, the doorbell rang. After having placed the frying pan to the side so that the butter wouldn't burn, he headed for the front door.  
><em>Could Germany be this early..?<em>

* * *

><p>Prussia awoke to the sweet smell of pancakes. <em>Wait, what?<em> Prussia quickly sat up and examined his surroundings. This wasn't Germany's basement…

_Oh, right._ It was Luxembourg's guestroom. Now that his location was clear, Prussia's attention turned back to that sweet, sweet smell, and he realized he was hungry. Yawning and stretching – joints popping – he made his way to the kitchen. Two familiar voices drifted towards him, and he was grinning as he entered the kitchen.

"_Guten Morgen, _West!" he called. "You're awfully early!"

Germany looked up. "_Guten Morger, Bruder._"

Luxembourg was just finishing the last pancake, taking off the apron and sitting down.

"Yes, how come you're so early, Germany?"

Germany slowly set down his fork (Luxembourg had quickly set the table for one more person).

"Italy drove me out of my house." A slight hint of an embarrassed blush appeared on the man's usually so strict face.

"Romano did? But why -?"

"Not Romano, _Bruder._" Germany was met by two confused silences. "_Veneziano. _Veneziano drove me out of my house."

"_Veneziano?"_Prussia erupted into laughter. "Who is it that actually wears the pants in your relationship, West?" Yes, Germany was definitely red now. Luxembourg decided to change the direction this conversation was going in.

"Why would Veneziano drive you out of your own house?"

"Well, this morning I mentioned to him that I was going to invite you over for dinner, as thanks for taking care of _Bruder_, and then he got this oddly serious look in his face. '_German cooking won't do, Germany!_' he said, and before I knew it I was outside and the door was locked."

Luxembourg chuckled (Prussia was having trouble breathing from laughing so hard).

"I'd have liked to see that! Veneziano all serious… That must be rare!"

"Speaking of rare!" Prussia recovered with incredible speed from his laughing fit. "Luxembourg _smirked_ yesterday! You should have seen it, it was, like, the very image of evil!"

Germany arched an eyebrow and smiled, apparently trying to picture Luxembourg smirking.

"That must've been a sight."

"I'm sure it wasn't _that _interesting…" But Luxembourg was interrupted by Prussia.

"Oh, and do you know that _this word_ means? Luxembourg taught it to me yesterday!"

"Hey, Prussia - !"

After having had the word properly explained by Prussia, Germany sent Luxembourg an inquiring look. Luxembourg hid his face in his hands.

"Please don't ask!" he almost wailed. "It was just to shut Prussia up!" The little nation looked up, and to Germany's great surprise, a shadow of that night's smirk was on his face. "It worked, mind you. I haven't seen anyone blush that deeply before!"

"Well, it seems you've had fun," Germany chuckled.

Luxembourg's shoulders tensed for a split second, and was that _worry_ on his _Bruder's _face? But then he blinked, and the usual smile was back on Luxembourg's face.

"I guess we did," he said, and Prussia grinned.

After Luxembourg's car was again in his possession, he, Prussia and Germany all went to Germany's house, which Veneziano had unlocked by then.

"Germany~! Ah, Prussia and Luxembourg, welcome!" Veneziano made a move as if to hug Germany, but then stopped himself. "No," he said slowly, "It seems I still can't forgive you for trying to serve German _'cuisine' _on a 'thank you'-dinner," Veneziano decided, and proceeded to instead shake hands with Luxembourg.

"I hope Germany's brother didn't bother you too much," the Italian smiled.

"Hey!" Prussia exclaimed, "Don't talk about me as if I'm not here!"

"I look forward to see what you have cooked for today, Veneziano," Luxembourg smiled back.

"Hey - !"

"Vee~! I think I actually surpassed myself today!"

"Really?"

"HEY - !"

"Give up, Bruder…"

* * *

><p><em>Fourth chapter, yay! Thank you for reading and for the encouraging reviews, it helps me to keep going! When I first started to write it I didn't intend to publish it, so I didn't write it in chapters. Therefore, the next chapter might be very short, but on the other hand, chapter six should come relatively quickly.<em>


	5. Remember Those Pancakes?

_Urgh... Would have updated earlier, but thunderstorms, y'know..._

* * *

><p>Veneziano disappeared back into the kitchen to complete the preparations, but not before he had made sure that everybody else had been served wine (even Germany, whom he decided to forgive after all, as long as he left all the cooking to Veneziano) and <em>grissini <em>with _prosciutto._  
>Luxembourg tasted the wine, and then sighed happily.<p>

"Maybe France is right about wine being the best after all," he mused aloud, and almost spat the second mouthful straight out as he noticed Germany's and Prussia's looks of. _Utter._ _**Shock**_.

"Beer isn't that bad either," he added quickly, and laughed as both brothers relaxed.

* * *

><p>After a truly splendid dinner Prussia and Veneziano fell asleep on the sofa, and left Germany and Luxemourg to take care of the dishes. Germany had tried to tell Luxembourg that he could take care of the dishes himself (and make Veneziano run 20 extra laps next time), but Luxembourg would have none of it.<p>

"The least I can do after such a delicious dinner is help with the dishes!" he had declared, and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt.  
>At first they washed the dishes in silence, but then Germany cleared his throat.<p>

"Did… Did _Bruder_ do something bad when he stayed at your place?" he asked, 'AWKWARD' written all over his face.

Luxembourg shook his head.  
>Hesitated.<p>

"He just… reminded me of some bad things."

Luxembourg looked down on the dishes with such concentration that you'd think he was trying to stare the plates clean. Germany could guess what kind of 'bad things' Luxembourg was remembering with such a somber expression, and a twinge of guilt pierced his stomach. _It was war,_ he reminded himself, and looked away from Luxembourg.

The rest of the dishes were washed in silence.

* * *

><p>Luxembourg sat in his office, trying to finish some mundane paperwork while at the same time attempting to ignore his phone, which rang with a screeching sound that bounced painfully around the walls, and with a red light blinking angrily at him. Finally, he snapped, and ripped the phone from its resting place.<p>

"_Yes?_"

"Sorry Sir!" His secretary sounded a bit scared, and Luxembourg regretted his outburst. "I know you said you wanted to work undisturbed, but there is a – Gilbert Beilschmidt? – here, he claims he knows you. I told him you weren't in, but he didn't believe me…" Luxembourg could hear the secretary's chair creek and the noise in the background change as she moved so the others couldn't hear her. "Do you really know him? He's awfully scary-looking…"

Luxembourg sighed. "I know him, send him in."

"…Very well." The phone beeped, and for a while everything was blissfully silent. Luxembourg took a moment to lean back and enjoy the silence.

Which Prussia shattered.

"_Guten Morgen, Luxembourg!_"

"It's not morning anymore," Luxembourg frowned. Prussia was wearing the same clothes he had worn yesterday; another set that had been to large for Luxembourg, a plain white T-shirt with the red Luxembourg lion and a pair of jeans that America had sent him (in promotional purposes) without checking Luxembourg's size. Prussia's hair was on edge, as if he had just gotten out of bed. Luxembourg could see how all this could make a secretary suspicious, especially when he noticed Prussia's lack of shoes. He motioned for Prussia to sit down, and Prussia sat.

"Why are you here?"

"Well, it's a long story," Prussia started slowly. Luxembourg wondered his paperwork would ever get done. "It begins yesterday. I fell asleep on the sofa. I had a rather nice dream too, something about ice-cream, I can't really remember. Anyway, I woke up, 'cause somehow Veneziano had fallen asleep between me and the back of the sofa – don't ask me how – and in his sleep he pushed me out of it. I was disoriented, maybe the wine rose to my head or something, 'cause I wanted to eat pancakes, and it seemed, then, perfectly logical to follow you back to your house and stay there again. But I couldn't find you or Germany…"

"Germany lent me a book, we were in his office."

"You were? Maybe I didn't search properly. Well, I got into your car…"

"What? How the hell did you get into my car?"

"Oh, Spain taught me a thing or two… So, I got into your car, and decided to wait for you in the back seat. But I must've fallen asleep on the floor, 'cause when I woke up, it was sunny and the car was parked outside this building."

"So… You're here because you wanted pancakes."

"Uh… Yeah."

Luxembourg rubbed his temples. Prussia watched him nervously; Luxembourg seemed to be having a bad day… When Luxembourg reached for the phone, judging by the shortness of the number it was internal, Prussia expected security guards to burst through the door at any moment.

"I'll take an early lunch today… Yes, I know… Yes. I'm going to send Belgium some of the papers; she's the one who should be handling them anyway, with or without government."

Prussia's face lit up.

"Don't get any ideas!" Luxembourg warned. "It's just because I wasn't getting anywhere with these documents!"

Prussia only grinned.

* * *

><p><em>Next chapter is coming <strong>verrry<strong> soon~_


	6. Trop Petit Luxembourg, Sauve Toi!

…_Gotta get down on Friday - ! (/shot) Translations are at the end.  
><em>_**WARNING! This chapter contains drunk France and Spain! Probably best not to read around parents or siblings, though it shouldn't be –**_**that**_**– bad. X)**_

* * *

><p>And so the week floated past and Prussia remained at Luxembourg's house. Luxembourg would get up in the morning and make breakfast; putting Prussia's half in the fridge, as Prussia never woke up before Luxembourg left. At lunch, Prussia would come to Luxembourg's office (albeit better clad and groomed than the first time). He was rather popular among the staff, and they let him do as he pleased while he waited for Luxembourg to finish (although they drew the line at him touching any papers). After eating Prussia would disappear somewhere, Luxembourg hadn't asked what he was doing (he wasn't sure he wanted to, either…).<br>When Luxembourg finally returned home for the day (often late), Prussia would have ransacked Luxembourg's bookshelves and found an interesting recipe he wanted to try, but didn't dare make on his own, so he'd ask for Luxembourg to 'help' (which meant Luxembourg would cook, and Prussia sit and eat leftover ingredients).

Suddenly, it was Friday. And _this _Friday was about to turn out rather different to all other Fridays.  
>To begin with, Luxembourg arrived <em>early<em>. This was because Prussia wouldn't let Luxembourg finish his work.  
>Secondly, they arrived, well, <em>second<em>. The only one there before them was Spain, and without Romano, too.

"_Abend!_" Prussia said cheerily.

"_Hola!_" Spain answered, holding up his hand in greeting. This led to them getting into an argument about which secret handshake was more awesome, Prussia insisting that his must be awesomer, since he was the awesomest. Luxembourg wasn't particularly interested, so he started chatting with the bartender, who politely asked if Luxembourg had gotten his car back; the bartender would've stopped the tow truck himself if he'd only gotten outside in time.  
>Just as Luxembourg was about to order the first round of drinks, a voice greeted him from behind.<p>

"_Bonjour, Luxembourg!_" Luxembourg turned to see France and Netherlands enter the bar.

"_Bonjour, France, Belgique n'est pas la?_"

_"Non, elle est occupée... Aha, il est fachée, fachée !" _France grinned widely.

_"Qui...?" _Luxembourg started, and then saw that displeased wrinkle that always appeared on Netherlands face whenever Belgium or Luxembourg spoke French, and quickly changed to another tongue. "So, what do you guys want to drink?"

"Nothing," Netherlands muttered, and sat down opposite Prussia and Spain, who still hadn't decided on a handshake. France chuckled as he saw his friends so absorbed in such a meaningless topic.

"They'll probably be having beer," he guessed.

"Veneziano served some great wine yesterday, how about we share a bottle?" Luxembourg offered.

"_Excellante idée, mon ami!_"

While France and Luxembourg spoke over the wine, Germany arrived (and made a face at their choice of drink). He apologized about Prussia's behaviour on his _Bruder's_ behalf (Prussia himself was both unwilling and unable to apologize himself, as he had taken on a bet about how much he could drink in half an hour; Spain and Netherlands were rather amused).

"I would have picked _Bruder_ up, but things kept getting in my way..."

"Would 'things' be Veneziano, hmm~?" France grinned as Germany blushed.

Luxembourg laughed. "Don't worry," he assured the blushing man, "I actually enjoy having Prussia with me (insert incredulous stares here). I imagine it must feel similar to have a dog; it greets you happily at the door, you have to feed it and make sure it stays clean and doesn't wear the same clothes all the time… The good thing about Prussia is that he walks himself!"  
>The whole table burst out laughing (even Netherlands). Prussia was not amused.<p>

"A _DOG_?" he slurred, already drunk, "Can't I at least be some kind of awesome _BIRD_?"  
>Spain silenced him by pointing out that the more he spoke, the less he drank, and the closer Spain came to winning the bet. Prussia immediately set to make up for lost time.<p>

Needless to say, Prussia wasn't feeling well afterwards. Neither was Germany, who, once again, had to be dragged home by Austria when he came by.

"Prussia," Luxembourg said slowly, "It's okay not to get totally wasted on Fridays."

Prussia frowned, and seemed to be processing what he had been told. Just as it appeared he might be getting close to comprehending what had been said, he fell asleep.

"_Oh, la, la,_" France rolled his eyes, "Will he ever learn?"

"I think not," Spain chuckled.

"You mean you _wish _not," France grinned.

"That too," Spain nodded, "He is far too entertaining."

"Lux, we'll help you get him into bed. Spain, grab his legs," France said and took hold of Prussia's arms.

"_Ah, merci…_"

* * *

><p>At long last, France and Spain had dumped Prussia into the guest bed.<p>

"Thank you," Luxembourg said tiredly, sitting down in the living room sofa.

"_De rein_," France replied, sitting down to Luxembourg's right.

"No need to thank us," Spain agreed, "He is our most awesome buddy, after all," he added, a hint of friendly mocking in his voice. He settled to Luxembourg's left. "But really, you haven't gotten any taller at all since the last time I saw you, Lux, are you sure you haven't stopped growing?"

"Hmm~ I think I'd prefer it if Lux stays _petit_," France smiled and placed an arm around the '_petit_' nation's shoulder. "See? He fits perfectly!"

"Unfair, France!" Spain cried and put his arm around Luxembourg's waist. "He fits even better than me! Cut his hair a _liiittle_ shorter and we even look alike!"

Luxembourg tried to discreetly remove their arms, but the two men's grip around him only tightened, making Luxembourg more than a little bit uncomfortable.

"Unfair?" France retorted. "You already have Romano!"

"But he's been so cold to me recently!" Spain leaned his chin on Luxembourg's head. "And Lux is always so sweet and polite!"

"Then take Veneziano!"

"But Germany has hogged him all to himself! And don't you have Seychelles, France?"

"She doesn't talk to me much anymore; _grand-frére_ is awfully lonely…" France said, pouting.

"Then…" Spain's eyes glittered mischievously. Luxembourg got a sinking feeling in his stomach. "…How about we share him, hmm?"

France laughed. "_Mais bien sur!_"

Luxembourg decided that whatever it was Spain and France were thinking about, he did not want to be a part of it, and with a quick and surprisingly strong move, wriggled himself out of their dual embrace. He scrambled out from their reach, his panicked heart racing.

"_Mais Luxembourg, pourqoi t'as peur?_"

"You're drunk," Luxembourg mumbled, avoiding the question, and backed further away as France got up from the sofa and took a step towards him.

"Not terribly," Spain chuckled and swiftly stood up. "But I'm probably not very sober, either," he agreed.

"You should leave. Both of you."

"But we're having so much fun! Right, France?"

"_C'est vrai!_"

_I really don't like this, _Luxembourg decided, and ran towards the closest, lockable room, which was his bedroom. He heard feet thudding behind him, but he was faster.  
>Locking the door behind him, he slid down into a sitting position on the floor. He found his <em>handi<em> and found Romano's number.

_Pick up, pick up, pick up..!_

"_Italia Romano_, who…?"

"Romano, this is Luxembourg."

"Ah, hi. Umm, have you seen Spain? He said he'd go out with the lot of you, but he hasn't returned…"

"Well, yes, he's trying to beat down my door…" Luxembourg was met with an awkward silence. "Together with France."

"Ah." Romano finally got it.

"Yeah, so if you don't mind, do you think you could…?"

"I don't think I can handle the both of them, though… I'll still come," he added quickly, "I'd just like some backup. How about that potato-bastard?"

"Unfortunately, Germany is _hors-service_, but I was going to call Netherlands…"

"Do that, I'll be there as quickly as possible."

Luxembourg sighed in relief. "Thank you, I'll call Netherlands now."

"_Ciao!_"

Luxembourg dialled Netherland's number, but got no answer. As the banging on the door grew louder and louder he started to panic.

_Who else can I call? Austria is with Germany, I don't know Hungary's number…_

On a desperate whim, he searched for, and found, Englands number. After five beeps and five eternities, he picked up.

"_Who's'at?_" Englands sleepy voice grumbled.

"I'm really sorry, I tried to call Netherlands, I need help…"

"Luxembourg? What could I possibly help you with at… four in the morning?"

"It's a really long story, but the current situation is that…"

"Oi, Luxembourg! Who are you talking to?" France shouted through the door.

"Was that _France_?" England sputtered.

"Yes, he and Spain are trying to break down my door. Romano is going to try and take care of Spain, but…"

"Those bastards!" England interrupted him, "Is Prussia there too?"

"No, for once he's innocent. Out like a light."

"Right… I'll come within the minute!"

"Thank you very much!"

"Don't worry, if it's to beat up France, I'll be ready anytime!"

-_click-_

Luxembourg gave a sigh of relief. Everything was going to be alright.

* * *

><p>England was furious.<br>_That damned Frog! What is he thinking, causing such a ruckus this early? _Getting ready at record speed, he turned to his faithful unicorn. "Let's go!" he shouted, and all his (imaginary?) friends cheered them on as they raced for Luxembourgish territory.

* * *

><p><strong>England, what a hero! –chuckle–<strong>

_Next chapter:_ the long-awaited battle between Romano and Spain; England and France! Who will win? :O

* * *

><p><strong>TranslationS:<strong>

_Abend - _ short for _Guten Abend_, good evening.  
><em>Hola – <em>hello  
>"<em>Bonjour, France, Belgique n'est pas la?<em>" – Hello, France, isn't Belgium here ?  
><em>"Non, elle est occupée... Aha, il est fachée, fachée !" – <em>No, she's occupied... Aha, he's angry, angry !  
><em>"Qui... ?"<em> - Who... ?  
>"<em>Excellante idée, mon ami!<em>" – Excellent idea, my friend !  
>"<em>Ah, merci...<em>" – Ah, thank you...  
>"<em>De rein.<em>" – It's nothing.  
><em>petit – <em>small; masculine  
><em>grand-frére – <em>big brother  
>"<em>Mais bien sur!<em>" – But of course!  
>"<em>Mais Luxembourg, pourqoi t'as peur?<em>" – But Luxembourg, why are you scared ?  
><em>handi – <em>Luxembourgish slang for cell phone  
><em>hors-service <em>– Out of order  
><em>"Ciao!" – <em>Good-bye!

Lol, that's a lot… ;;


	7. Saving Luxembourg

_Haha, I noticed I missed a thing in the translation at the end of last chapter, that might make things confusing. In French, words can be feminine or masculine, and __**petit **__is the masculine form of 'small'. The feminine form would be __**petite**__. In the masculine form, the last 't' isn't pronounced, and in the feminine the 'e' is silent. Now, I won't keep you anymore, have some Romano and Iggy! ;)_

* * *

><p>Arriving, England found Romano stealthily approaching Luxembourg's house in an expensive-looking car. The Italian was driving slowly, so as to not alert their targets of his arrival. England rode up next to him and knocked on the side window. Romano jumped, and then stared for a while, noticing that England was <em>gliding through the air,<em> as though he was sitting on something invisible.

"England?" Romano stopped the car and got out. "What are you doing here?"

"Same as you. Saving Luxembourg." The Briton suddenly fell to the ground, as if he had gotten off a horse. Only there was no horse. Romano didn't know how to deal with this, so he chose to ignore it. Maybe he was just tired.

"I thought Netherlands was supposed to come."

"It seems he wasn't available," England scoffed.

"Hmm. Well then, let's go get those idiots out of there! "

The unlikely duo found that the door wasn't locked, and heard France's and Spain's voices from inside. Romano fumed at Spain's irresponsible behavior; the two of them were in a relationship, after all. England still just wanted to beat France up; he still hadn't forgotten that coffee incident.  
>Together they entered the house.<p>

"Romano!" Spain called out happily, abandoning the door-banging to embrace his dear friend. "What are you doing here?"

"Saving Luxembourg, bastard," the smaller nation said curtly, trying to push Spain away. Spain only hugged him tighter, breathing in the Italian's smell. _Sunshine and tomatoes, _he thought happily.

"I really missed you," Spain whispered, and tears fell into Romano's hair.

"What the hell, Spain? How much have you been drinking?"

"Not enough," Spain answered. Not letting go of Romano, he turned towards France. "_Perdón, Francia,_" he said, an excited smile on his face. "I'll be leaving!"

"_Bon voyage!_" France rolled his eyes and grinned. "_Alors. Angleterre, _what are you doing here?"

England had been watching silently until then.

"Saving Luxembourg," he repeated.

"No need, he isn't in any danger." France's smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

_Why does he always turn like this when he's drunk? And why isn't he locked up already?_

"Luxembourg claimed otherwise."

"Stay out of it. It has got nothing to do with you."

"You're violating my Treaty of London, it has got everything to do with me." England clenched his fist, but remained still. He wouldn't strike first.

"_Ah, Angleterre!_ Why must you always spoil my fun?"

"Your 'fun' isn't funny for anyone else," England growled.

France smirked.

* * *

><p>After a frighteningly loud thud, everything on the other side of the door went silent. Luxembourg strained his ears, anxiously waiting for an indication of who had won.<br>A soft knocking on the door caused Luxembourg to jump, and his throat constricted.

"It's okay." Relief caused the coldness that had entered Luxembourg's stomach to melt away. It was England's voice. "You can come out."

Luxembourg unlocked the door timidly, and made a sharp intake of breath as he saw the big bruise on England's face, right over his left eye. The clothes were torn, and numerous small wounds covered the arms.

"That's going to look horrible if you don't ice it," Luxembourg whispered, feeling sick with guilt.

"Yeah," England frowned, sounding unconcerned, "But he needs more treatment," he waved a thumb carelessly in France's direction, not bothering to even look at him.

France sat hunched with his head between his knees, having fallen after trying to get up. He whimpered something in French.

"He probably has a concussion," England said coldly. "I'll call an ambulance."

After making sure France was transported to a hospital, Luxembourg helped England clean the cuts with disinfectant and bandaged the arm, just in case, while England held a pack of ice to his eye.

"I'm sorry. And thank you." Luxembourg avoided looking England in the face, keeping his gaze fixed on the bandages.

"You're welcome…"

"Huh? What are you doing here, Iggy?"

England winced as Luxembourg jumped, accidentally prodding England's arm a bit harder than necessary as Prussia entered the room.

"Saving Luxembourg," England replied flatly.

* * *

><p><em>Nooon~! I hate writing France like this! France~! Pardonnez-moi! ;A;<br>Song I listened to while writing: Pub and Go! Of course. ;)  
>Oh, and that thing about violating the Treaty of London is bullshit. He still just wants to beat France up. What is that coffee incident…? <em>_**Mystère! **__;D But if someone could write a fic about it, I'd be extatic! ^o^_

_This is the last complete chapter I have to type up, so the next one still has to be written, therefore it might take a while before it's published. Patience, my friends! ;)_

* * *

><p><strong>TranslationS:<strong>

_Perdón, Francia - _Sorry, France in Spanish (I hope)  
><em>Bon voyage! - <em>Have a nice trip!  
><em>Angleterre - <em>England (United Kingdom)


	8. Alliance, GrandFrére?

Prussia stared blankly at the two nations. Luxembourg silently finished wrapping England's arm with a bandage. England was watching Luxembourg intently with his right eye, the left being covered by a bag of ice. There was a look of concern on his face that made Prussia worried. The total lack of even a false, polite smile on Luxembourg's face scared him a little.  
>Fortunately, Luxembourg didn't seem to be hurt, but he was too silent.<br>Prussia couldn't stand the oppressive atmosphere anymore, and asked:

"What happened?"

Luxembourg didn't answer, he just kept fixing England's bandages cutting off loose threads and tucking in edges to a ridiculous extent.

"I think that's enough," England said, appearing uncomfortable with the attention. Luxembourg nodded, but didn't stop.

"What happened?" Prussia repeated. This earned him a quick glare from England.

"France and Spain," the nation answered gruffly. "They're what happened."

Prussia could guess the rest. Sighing, he pulled out a chair and sat down opposite the other two.

"Where were you during this whole time?" England demanded.

"England, I told you…" Luxembourg was cut off; the Briton had worked up some steam.

"You'd think that after all the attention you gave him when he became independent – not to mention _before_ – you'd actually care a little!" Prussia looked lost. He _did_ care. But how could he have known what was happening? Hell, he hadn't even known they'd left the bar until just a few minutes ago! And his head hurt like you wouldn't believe it, England's words felt like hammers banging on his poor, currently not-so-awesome cranium. "You three are a bunch of irresponsible -!"

"That's enough!" Luxembourg snapped at him, startling England out of his hot temper. He had probably never heard Luxembourg snap before either. "It wasn't Prussia's fault. If anything, it was mine. I was too busy minding Netherland's bad temper that I didn't remember to watch out for France. They probably only had kind intentions when helping me carry Prussia back here -," Somehow, Prussia doubted this, but he kept his trap shut, "-And they were drunk. I seem to recall that you don't exactly act like a gentleman when you're drunk, either, England."

England flushed red in shame.

Prussia made a mental note to press both of them for information about this later.

An awkward silence laid itself like a blanket over the room. After a while Luxembourg stood up. In a more civil tone he said:

"It's late; I don't know how you got here, England, but if you'd like you could sleep here." Luxembourg smiled wryly. "It seems I should make my house a hotel."

Prussia chuckled, and England managed a tired smile.

"Thank you, that would be great."

* * *

><p>England yawned and stretched. At first he couldn't remember where he was, the semi-darkness didn't exactly help him identify his surroundings. Then he remembered. Francis' face was what returned first, and the satisfying feeling as his knuckles made contact with the Frog's chin. He grinned to himself as he fell back on the pillows. The grin was quickly wiped off his face, however, as the bruises he'd acquired himself made themselves known. This wouldn't do.<br>He sat up, and pulled away a curtain to let in some light. The room was actually a library; he'd had to sleep on a sofa since Prussia had already claimed the guestroom. Luxembourg had offered to sleep on the sofa himself and leave England his bed, but England had declined. He had a feeling Luxembourg needed it more than himself.

He had left his clothes next to him on the floor, but now they were carefully folded on a chair, and another pair of clothes was on the low table, a note left on top of them. England gingerly picked it up; his muscles were sore from the day before, and the cuts hurt when the skin around them was stretched out. _Damn Francis and his French manicure._ He read the note.

_Your clothes are in pretty bad shape,  
>so if you'd like you can have these.<br>They've never been used;  
>the person that gave them to me didn't know my size,<br>and it doesn't seem like I'll ever grow enough for them to fit me._

_I'll prepare enough breakfast for the two of you,  
>if there's anything else you want you can ask Prussia,<br>he knows his way around awfully well by now._

_Thank you,  
>Luxembourg.<em>

He picked up the shirt he'd worn yesterday – no, today. It really was in a pitiful state; there was a large rip right where the arm joined the main piece, it'd expose his armpit and look extremely stupid. _Thank God I didn't take my nice shirt._ The clothes Luxembourg had given him were plain, a normal white shirt of average quality and a pair of jeans (that England couldn't imagine the nation wearing, they had a strange stain-like print on them, that rather reminded England of the days he'd dressed in punk). He dressed, and left the cuffs unbuttoned so as to not put pressure on the cuts.

Prussia still wasn't awake, the only other sounds apart from his own were those of the refrigerator and a single fly, repeatedly bumping into the window, too dumb to realize there was no way to fly through glass.  
>In the fridge was a plate of pancakes, and England's (really thick) eyebrow twitched as a memory resurfaced.<p>

* * *

><p>The hospital was even more sparsely decorated than Luxembourg's house, and because of an almost total lack of colour it gave off a feeling just short of hostile. The plants that had been abandoned and left to die in corners only served to accentuate the displeasure.<p>

Luxembourg had, fortunately, never had to stay at _this_ particular hospital. Being a nation meant he couldn't die by wounds inflicted on him directly, but that didn't stop them from hurting, and the occasional visit to _a_ hospital was unavoidable.

A nurse gave him directions, and he headed for a stainless steel elevator, the buttons worn down after innumerable patients, doctors, nurses and visitors had passed.

A hand quickly grabbed hold of the elevator door just before they closed, giving Luxembourg a fright. He was sure it'd be crushed, but after a brief moment of standstill, the doors opened, revealing the hand's owner. It was a young woman, blonde, with light-wired glasses. A ribbon in her twin-braided hair toned down her maturity.

"_Bonjour_," she greeted him calmly.

"_Bonjour_," he replied, still a bit startled.

She stretched out a slender hand to press a button, only to find that it was already illuminated. She let her hand fall, and backed away a little to stand opposite Luxembourg.

"Are you here to visit France?" she asked curiously.

And then Luxembourg remembered who this was.

"Monaco!" he exclaimed, baffled. "_Pardon, je ne t'avais pas reconnue! _How you've grown!" He laughed, a bit embarrassed to not have recognized her.

She smiled. "I've heard that an awful lot lately." Then she turned serious. "I heard, you know. Do you really want to see him?"

Luxembourg wondered how she knew, but it was possible that France had told her. Apparently, they were very close, being half-siblings. "Yes. I'll have to see him sooner or later."

"True, but you are too nice, Luxembourg."

"Are _you_ giving _me_ such reprimands, Monaco? Besides," Luxembourg's smile turned a little less jovial, "I'm not leaving without at least an apology, and preferably an alliance, just in case."

Monaco nodded approvingly.

"If I help convince him, will you support me in pursuing a similar alliance with him, preferably one very much in my favour?"

Luxembourg chuckled, and the two shook hands.

* * *

><p>"You made him make you <em>pancakes with maple syrup<em>?"

Prussia blinked. Thick eyebrows were aggressively angled. Why such hostility so early in the morning (read: almost noon)?

Prussia walked around the grumpy Briton and took out a plate from the fridge, and stuffed a sticky pancake in his mouth.

"Firth'y," he said with his mouth full of pancake, "Ah di'n' ma'e 'im 'o any'ing." Realizing that it was unnecessarily hard to talk with mouth full – and unintelligible – he swallowed before he continued. "And secondly, what's wrong with pancakes? You allergic to syrup or something?"

"You don't realize what you're doing?" England scoffed. "Man, I didn't think you were that thick!"

"Well, tell me then, what is it that I'm doing?" Prussia demonstratively stuffed another pancake into his mouth.

"You're projecting Canada onto Luxembourg," England said flatly.

Prussia stared at England.

"No, I'm not."

"Then explain."

"He had the idea of pancakes all by himself. I just said I liked it with maple syrup."

Prussia could tell England didn't believe him.

"Okay then," the Briton said. "As long as you know what you're doing."

England didn't mean it. He was actually worried, but in truth he didn't really have anything to do with it. He drained the cup of tea in his hand, placed it in the dishwasher and headed for the door.

"You're not going to eat?" Prussia asked to his back.

"I might be allergic to maple syrup pancakes after all." With that, the Briton left.

* * *

><p>"How are you, <em>grand-frére<em>?"

France turned around and smiled as he noticed Monaco. The smile faltered a little as he noticed Luxembourg.

"They're just keeping me here for observation."

Monaco nodded. "You are a country, after all."

"Mm…" France looked out the window, pretending to be very interested in a raven. "_Pardon._"

"_C'est tous que t'as a dire? __Vraiment?_"

France cringed. Monaco, standing a bit to the side, was able to see the guilt on his face. _He really cares, _she realized.

"_Alors, que est-ce que tu veux?"_

"_Un alliance. Trés en ma faveur."_

France turned around. Was sweet _petit Luxembourg_ blackmailing him? He had to smile a little. His neighboring nation had come a long way.

"_De quel genre?_"

"_En fait, grand-frére," _Monaco butted in, smiling her most charming smile, a perfect copy of France's own. "_J'en voudrais une, moi aussi."_

While Monaco and Luxembourg were blackmailing France, Prussia was deep in thought.

He was over Canada, right?

_He only held a sort of brotherly love for Luxembourg, right?_

* * *

><p><em>Aaaand, another cliffhanger~! Muahaahaa~! I almost added a ';)' after 'Alliane, Grand-Frére?' in the title. XD<em>

_In case I haven't been having a PM conversation with you, you might not know, but on my Tumblr ('homepage' link on my profile) I've been uploading __a lot of crap __sketches and images of Luxembour. I'd be honored if you'd check them out! You'll probably have to look a bit further back, or use 'archives' to find it, though._

_Until next time! :D I'll try and include some BeNeLux!_

* * *

><p><strong>TranslationS:<strong>

_Bonjour – _Hello/Good Day  
><em>Pardon, je ne t'avais pas reconnue! – <em>I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you!  
><em>grand-frére – <em>big brother  
><em>C'est tous que t'as a dire? Vraiment? – <em>That's all you have to say? Really?  
><em>Alors, que est-ce que tu veux? – <em>Then what is it that you want?  
><em>Un alliance. <em>_Trés en ma faveur. – _An alliance. Very much in my favor.  
><em>De quel genre? –<em>Of what kind?  
><em>En fait, grand-frére,j'en voudrais une, moi aussi. – <em>Actually, big brother, I'd like one too.


	9. Romance Novels

_I don't think this is over T rating. (I don't think I'm **capable** of writing M.)_

* * *

><p>When Luxembourg returned home he was in a considerably better mood. As of now, he and Monaco were guaranteed protection by France should they be attacked. By no means did it mean he was out of danger, he was small and surrounded by countries threatening to give up agreements of old, to upset the power balance yet again, but at least one potential enemy had turned ally.<p>

Humming to himself he entered the kitchen. If he hadn't been so happy he might have noticed a slight change in Prussia's behaviour, but as it was then, he didn't.

_"Hallo, Preu__β__en!"_ He greeted the albino cheerily as he dropped his jacket onto a chair, turning around to make a late lunch.

Prussia followed Luxembourg with his eyes. He had seen a lot of new expressions on the little nation's face the past week, and although the smile was only a small one there was a newfound lightness about the way Luxembourg moved around.

"Did something good happen?" Prussia asked Luxembourg's back.

"Mhm! I'm not at liberty to discuss it, though. Would you like to eat something?"

"No, I'm fine, I just ate breakfast. Speaking of which, Iggy went home already."

"That's unfortunate... I will have to call him later..."

Prussia made a non-comittant noise and continued to watch the little nation prepare his lunch. He noticed several small things that he had probably seen before, but not paid attention to: how Luxembourg had to hold some of the larger jars and pots with two hands to get a good grip on them, small, flickering expressions (an amused smile as he brought out spaghetti, annoyance as he noticed the tomatoes had gone bad and he had to settle for canned, relief as he found some left-over meat) and the way he rocked backwards on his heels before rising up on the balls of his feet to reach for things on the higher shelves, jumping if he still couldn't get a hold of it.

It should have looked stupid (it certainly would have if it had been Austria jumping around like that), but when Prussia tried to come up with some witty line to tease Luxembourg with, he couldn't. It was a very strange thing, this, and since he didn't know what to do with it, he ended up just staring. Luxembourg noticed, and became self-conscious.

"Did I spill something on my clothes?" he asked, looking himself over.

"Nope," Prussia answered, mentally kicking himself for this unawesome reply.

Luxembourg stared at him suspiciously.

"Are you trying to trick me into wearing dirty clothes for the rest of the day?"

Prussia shook his head.

"...Did something happen with England?"

_My world was kicked upside-down by him, the 'git'._

"Nope."

Luxembourg gave him a final, long look before turning back to his lunch.

"If you say so..."

* * *

><p>Now it was Luxembourg's turn to watch Prussia, and he did so with a small worry-wrinkle between his eyes.<p>

Prussia was silent.

Prussia was still.

Prussia _wore a thoughtful expression on his face._

It was abnormal, which normally meant that Luxembourg would start to worry about his personal safety, but after having caught Prussia with the same expression sitting on his own, Luxembourg came to realise that Prussia was not sitting and plotting world domination. Which was even more worrisome. Luxembourg had only seen Prussia like this at two instances that didn't end up erupting into some huge, stupid prank. The first time was when Prussia was severely ill and trying to hide it, and the second was when his country was dissolved.

The odd behaviour extended through dinner, after which Prussia disappeared into the library. Luxembourg didn't know what to do; he had never been in this kind of situation before, if anything, his 'neighbours' had all taken care of him (for better and worse), most notably Belgium...

_Belgium! She might know what to do!_

* * *

><p>When Luxembourg finally hung up he realised that he had forgotten to ask about Prussia. As soon as Luxembourg had introduced himself Belgium had gone off on an angry rant about the paperwork Luxembourg had sent her earlier, only to suddenly switch to speaking about an outing with Liechtenstein, shoes and chocolate in rapid French. At that point Luxembourg switched off, only humming in response every now and then.<p>

_And I still don't know what to do..._

He had no one else to ask, really. He refused to call Netherlands for this, France no longer owed him and would most likely just tease him or call Prussia, he didn't feel like talking to Spain and something told him not to talk about this to Austria, and calling Switzerland about this just seemed absurd, which effectively ruled out Liechtenstein and why hadn't he searched for Hungary's number already? Then again, he wasn't entirely clear on Hungary's and Prussia's current relationship. It seemed the same as usual, but so did everything else, even though it had been fundamentally changed.

He had to do _something_ though, and soon he found his feet had taken him to the Prussia's room. (When had it stopped being 'the guest room'?) He knocked and entered.

The floor was littered with books from his library, and Prussia was sitting in the middle of this chaos, leafing through books seemingly at random.

_They're all romance novels,_ Luxembourg noticed.

Prussia didn't see Luxembourg until the nation crouched down in front of him, picking up one of the books on the floor. Prussia opened his mouth to say something - an excuse for the mess or the way he had treated some of the books, perhaps - but then closed it again. Luxembourg sat down opposite him.

"Even if Romania has bitten you it won't turn you into a vampire, Preuβen," Luxembourg said with a lopsided smile (_what is my stupid heart doing_, Prussia wondered), putting down Twilight. "No matter your eye- and skin-colour."

"I know that," Prussia replied grumpily.

Luxembourg patiently waited for him to elaborate, but Prussia felt like a student who knew he ought to know the answer to the unspoken question, but having neglected his homework couldn't answer to save the country.

"So, why have you raided my library for romance novels?" Luxembourg asked outright, though he had an idea. Back when Luxembourg was in the Zollverein he had often visited Prussia, whom he had sometimes found on the floor surrounded by books in this very manner. It was Prussia's way of gathering information and committing it to memory. The real question, therefore, was 'Who (finally) managed to attract your attention?'

_Perhaps it was good that I didn't tell Belgium, this would have spread like a wildfire._

Prussia hadn't even heard the question. His heart (not to mention his stomach) was doing irrational things to him and split him in three. One very small part of him knew exactly what was going on and was ringing a small bell of warning telling him that what the second part was about to do was very-stuoid-and-could-have-horrible-consequences-did-he-not-remember-yesterday-jeez-give-the-guy-some-space while the third part of him was trying to function normally. Needless to say, _Ein _and _Drei_ didn't have chance against _Zwei._

His hand reached out on its own and pulled Luxembourg close, as close as was physically possible without hurting the other. Luxembourg was so warm and small, but not as light as he had been a week ago, which was good, great, because gravity helped pull him closer. Only it wasn't enough. Prussia buried his face in the wavy, brown locks, taking in Luxembourg's scent, which was the same as the house's, only stronger.

"P-Preuβen?"

Blue eyes blinked at him, very, very confused. Prussia seemed to recall that there was something about this that wasn't quite alright, but it didn't matter anymore.

It all happened very, very fast, and Luxembourg had no time to even realise what it _meant_ before lips were pressed against his own. He flinches and pulls away, meeting Prussia's eyes in the process. Startled by the utter despair he finds there, it doesn't occur to him to move away, to _react_, and Prussia kissed him again, placing a hand behind Luxembourg's neck, weaving the fingers into his hair to keep him from breaking contact again when Prussia invades Luxembourg's mouth with his tongue.

Luxembourg was warm all over and couldn't tell if it was a good or bad thing, but his body was screaming for oxygen and he struggles free, drawing a deep breath before he was pushed down on the floor, Prussia's body covering him like a blanket.

A sobbing blanket. The words could barely be heard.

"Ich liebe dich!"

Luxembourg felt oddly detached from his burning body. Was this really happening, he asked himself. Prussia's withheld sobs shook his body, and through extension, Luxembourg's own, assuring him that this was, indeed, real.

_Are you scared?_  
>No. Yesterday he'd been scared.<p>

_Then, are you happy?_  
>He wasn't sure. It was warm, and apart from the shaking, which was easing up, it was... comfortable. Yes, lacking a more precise word, that would have to do. That was what it was. Comfortable. Lying like this, enveloped by warmth, was comfortable.<p>

A short huff of dry laughter escaped him.

_Yes, this would have spread like a wildfire._

* * *

><p>After a while, Prussia got up, whispering something that sounded like an apology before quickly heading through the door, leaving Luxembourg on the floor.<p>

A guest in his own guestroom.

* * *

><p><em>Guyyys~ I'd really, really, need reviews for this! It's the first time I've written this kind of scene, and I'm terrified I might have done too much, or too little, or too wierd! Especially since my friend kept trying to read what I was writing... She writes fanfictions herself, apparently, but they're Twilight fics, and most probably <strong>deifnately<strong> hetero and not between countries. ._. (And I'm not asking for comments on Twilight: I enjoyed the books up until the release of the films; not because of the films themselves but becuase of the sudden hype that rose around them. The End.)_

_ASFHADSFH, comfort me!_ ;A;


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